


The Koopa, The Dad, & The Better

by BeeTeeDubya14



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Galaxy
Genre: Asexual Species, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Bad Parenting, Based on a Tumblr Post, Bowser Redemption, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Good Parent Bowser, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Human Bowser, Inspired By Tumblr, Koopalings Are Adopted, Monologue, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeeTeeDubya14/pseuds/BeeTeeDubya14
Summary: I wanted to see a confrontation between a redeemed Bowser and Hawkmoth, so sue me.This fic is:A - a sequel to https://thebigpapilio.tumblr.com/post/175002411360/mario-fans-heres-a-thoughtB - inspired by https://duckapus.tumblr.com/post/184704406530/i-want-bowser-to-punch-gabriel-agreste-in-the-faceIf you hate "Gabriel Agreste," you're gonna love this!





	1. The Most Prized Name Of All...

Bowser had been monstrous, forceful, and many other things he would spend his life atoning for, but he was by no means a bad father. The Koopalings - quite young at the time - were entrusted to him by their blood father should they fall in battle. The previous Boom Boom had been loyal and a great ally of the Koopa royal lineage, so when the sad day came that he fell - thankfully long before Mario, or things would be a lot worse between the plumber and his adopted kids - Bowser was more than willing to take the mantle. Bowser took as good care of them as he could, and Kamek helped him through the whole family’s issues. Even when Junior was born, Kamek was there for all of them. 

Bowser _had_ been angry his father magically forced Kamek to hide the truth of the racism that started the generational war between the Koopa & Mushroom Kingdoms with a silencing spell, he knew it was not Kamek’s fault and forgave him. After learning the truth, Bowser swore to fix his father’s mistakes, and it was not much later that a peace treaty resumed, complete with Peach’s also-restricted memories being restored. 

It also helped him move on from the then-princess, which was good, because when he had arrived to offer peace, he’d just missed Mario proposing.

After fixing up everything, Peach saw fit for Bowser to be invited to the wedding, though Mario had still been suspicious of him.

Nevertheless, despite Bowser’s newly-attained and seemingly-infinite patience, there had been - and there still would be - plenty of times in Bowser’s life when he became especially angry.

When he was taken away from his childhood best friend Peach? Mostly confused, but still angry.

When he first lost to Mario, followed by an uncounted amount of repeated results? He’d been furious, and with each time he returned from a fight in great pain, he found less and less things more aggravating than so much as the _thought_ of that provocative plumber.

When memories of his father and why he “hated” the Mushroom Kingdom returned to him? Bowser thought he couldn’t be angrier.

But after he stepped into that portal disguised as a human, Bowser found himself to be wrong.

It had started when he’d saved the kid from collateral damage caused by one of those… what was it, akumas? To his horror, he learned this was a regular occurrence in the city from the boy ( _Adrien, Bowser, his name is Adrien_ ) in a tone more surprised that _he didn’t know_ . That was fair, but the tone should have been a red flag that something was wrong. Later, he watched the boy’s ride show up at his school while walking by, and his heart _broke_ watching how fast Adrien’s face fell. 

It got worse when he started sending in spies. They returned with information of his dad and secretary being incredibly inconsiderate of Adrien and what he wanted, telling him what he was going to do as if he had no choice, and even when he did them, he was treated like a rebellious teen. Apparently, it was so bad the kid had fought to _go to the public school_. Junior didn’t mind being tutored, but Bowser still knew that even if his kids hadn’t wanted to do evil like they had done, the Koopa King would still be supportive of him and his siblings. 

Bowser had been about to lose his temper for the first time in what may have been a record-breaking drought when a Paratroopa returned with urgent news. When Bowser learned about the correlation behind the two pitiful excuses for “adults” and the reason behind the villains, he knew something had to be done. 

He couldn’t do it alone, however - he had to do things more quietly than an invasion could, and while he was incredibly strong, he would be outnumbered, and he was especially bad against smaller & faster opponents, if Mario and Luigi (he’d finally remembered to not address the younger hero as Green 'Stache) were anything to go by. Plus, he was mad right n-

_The Mario Brothers._

Bowser couldn’t think of anyone better to help him then the newly-dubbed Mushroom King and his brother. Luigi and Bowser were on decent terms, but that didn’t seem to be enough for his bro - even when Bowser helped find a way back to the brothers’ home world, Mario still seemed to not trust Bowser, however quiet or loud he was about it. The Koopa King wondered if this plan he was forming would get Mario to fully trust him. 

* * *

Mario and Luigi had been suspicious at first at a request for help - as much as Bowser had changed, the Koopa King seldom asked for help, certainly not in the desperate fashion that he had. But Luigi convinced Mario to at least hear the Koopa King out, and looking back, Mario thought it was a good idea - when Bowser explained the situation, the Mario Brothers would have agreed instantly had Bowser not wanted to explain how bad it was. 

Mario had mostly been on guard due to their wedding; he wasn’t exactly of noble stock, and if he were to let his Queen be taken by someone they had known was not always trustworthy, he didn’t know what anyone - least of all him - would think of the new King. But Peach seemed to trust the former enemy after missing memories returned, and Bowser had looked like a husk of himself on that day, so Mario had been too shocked by this new information to really do much at the time.

With the peace between the two Kingdoms, Mario had seldom needed to do any hero work with the Koopa army practically handling all defensive matters for him, so if nothing else, this was an excuse to get some exercise and do good for someone.

Besides, this was a human from a parallel world to he and his brother’s, right? The Mushroom World had ultimately changed their lives for the better, and if this Adrien kid needed it, they would do the same for him.

After conferring with Peach and making a plan, the three fighters were ready to go. Going through the portal made things a bit awkward given the wait and Bowser’s human disguise, but Mario finally started to feel that Bowser was becoming better. 

* * *

_J_ _ust our luck that there’s an akuma attack going on_ , Bowser mused. 

Looking further at the situation, there appeared were multiple akumas and two new creatures that Bowser assumed to be sentimonsters - Hawkmoth had decided to try Heroes’ Day again, it appeared, but this time he was nowhere to be found, a young, brown-haired girl in the villain’s costume. 

In a hidden spot near the battlefield, Bowser murmured to Mario and Luigi to go and help the heroes, saying he needed to save Adrien first. They all wore communicators - Bowser’s on an arm bracer, and the Mario Brothers under their hats. Nodding, they went off to go help, a well-placed fireball knocking Befana off her motorcycle and ultimately ending up purified in Luigi’s arms. Chat Noir - the kid was there, which made Bowser’s job a lot easier - and his friends were caught off guard, but when the brothers started to keep pace, they relaxed and returned to fighting the akumas once more.

Bowser would have loved to join them, but he had bigger fish to fry. Transforming back into his true form, he took off for Gabriel’s mansion.

* * *

Hawkmoth and Mayura were a bit worried when new heroes stepped in. It was already a taller order than last time due to the reactivated Monkey, Snake, & Horse joining the original five, but they had saved up enough energy to be at least on par with that. When the dynamic duo showed up, however, the villains started to become quite uncomfortable.

On the battlefield, Luigi’s hammer smashed the last akumatized item - Volpina’s necklace. This Lila girl had turned out to be willingly akumatized and working with the villains, and she was promptly taken to the police by an infuriated Carapace and Rena Rouge while the other heroes celebrated. 

The brothers’ communicators came on then, their draconid ally’s voice arriving right on time. 

“You guys cleaned up yet?”

“Perfect timing, big guy!” Mario said, the two brothers watching as Carapace and Rena Rouge returned.

“Good. Now, tell them to follow you to the big bads’ place, got it?”

With all the up-close fights Bowser and the brothers had, they still forgot sometimes that in the end, he was a born leader and knew how to give commands without being angry. Walking over to the heroes, they introduced themselves as “Fireball” and “Green Thunder,” and told the heroes not only that that they’d been doing detective work about Hawkmoth’s identity but that they’d tracked him down, with someone holding personal quarrel with the villain already confrontation him.  
Ladybug would have spoken first, but she was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering from a while away. 

“That’s our cue, then…” Green Thunder smiled. Gesturing in the direction of the sound, he continued, “...care to follow us there?”

You would have thought their heads would fly off their necks with how fast they nodded.

Meanwhile, Hawkmoth and Mayura caught their breaths after dodging the shards of glass sent their way. When they looked up, their breaths were caught once more as they took in the appearance of the cross-looking creature whose glare that screamed _you are in for the beatdown of your life_ . Fortunately for Mayura, she could see that the glare was mostly trained on her boss. Unfortunately for her, it was only _mostly_.

“Hawkmoth and Nathalie Sancoeur,” he uttered, and the two in question froze up in not only shock at this creature’s ability to speak so clearly and the fact he appeared to know Mayura’s identity but confusion, because this beast referred to Gabriel as Hawkmoth, even though at this point there was no conceivable reason this monster did not know that Gabriel was Hawkmoth.

“I have some words for you.”

* * *

“You may never have heard of me, given the differences of our origins, so let me tell you just who you’re messing with.”

Slowly stomping towards them, he proceeded to do just so. “I am King Bowser Koopa, ruler of Dark Land and former villain. I’m the ex-scourge of the Mushroom Kingdom and the first of the Seven Star Children. I was known as the Final Boss, the Destroyer of the Dark Star, and old enemies-turned-friends once called me _la tartaruga mortale -_ the death turtle."

To himself, Bowser thanked Luigi and Mario for teaching him Italian, because someone needed to know it other than those two if the brothers went evil.

"I did a lot of evil things in my career as a villain - I’ve conquered galaxies simply because they stood in my way.” 

“ _I could raze you and this whole mansion to the ground right now if I wanted_ ,” he roared, clearly putting fear into the two villains, “but I won’t. You wanna know why?”

At their somewhat-frantic nods, any amusement on his face said goodbye. 

“Because there’s a kid in this place.”

At their slight confusion, he scowled. At this point he stood over the floored duo.

“The title I hold more dearly to me than any of the ones I just named is _Dad_ . I have eight wonderful children, and every day of my life I do my best to make sure they want for nothing, _least of all my attention._ ” 

At that point he snatched Mayura’s brooch faster than either of them could react, leaving a stunned Nathalie Sancoeur in her place. Looking back for a second, he noticed the other heroes had arrived - Red & Green with them. Grinning, he returned to Hawkmoth’s fearful gaze.

“Now I’m not perfect, true, but at least I _try_. I support my kids, I take time to understand them and their interests, I teach them as best as I can, and even if they hadn’t wanted to follow in my villainous footsteps during that time, I like to think I would have respected that and continued to love them nonetheless.”

His glare hardened even further.

“Too tall an order for you, huh? If you can pretend to be the fashion mogul known as Gabriel Agreste, I think you could easily take time to be a parent to your kid.”

“Why do you keep saying he’s not Hawkmoth?” Chat Noir spoke up from Roi Singe & Ladybug’s grips.

“For what I know, Gabriel Agreste was a kind, caring, and patient guy who liked to do good for others simply for the sake of it. This guy doesn’t fit the description, so he can’t be Hawkmoth, right?” 

It was clear that Bowser knew Gabriel was Hawkmoth, but the message he was conveying was clearer - Gabriel had changed, and not for the better.

“You’re using your grief as an excuse to hold your son at arms’ length, but you only take control of him when it’s convenient. If I asked you about his favorite color, or his friends’, or what he wants to do with his life if he could choose, or even what he thinks of the “designer clothes” you stick him in, how much could you really tell me?”

At this, Hawkmoth was silent. Bowser let out an angry snort, then finished his tirade. 

“I’m not gonna go too far on your failing attempts at villainy. You’re a faulty & foolish failure as a villain and a parent, and as I said earlier, if it wasn’t for the kid, you’d be burned to a crisp and stomped into a paste - not to mention scum like you aren’t worth the effort.” 

He picked up the main villain, dropped him on his two feet, and with a growl of “ _Get bent._ ” he _walloped_ him into the wall with a single punch. 

Hawkmoth would wake up after about a week and a half in the hospital, having changed from purple to white. A change to orange would follow soon after.

But for now, Bowser would turn around to face the other heroes. He would help get the detransformed shell of Gabriel to the police and hospital, and after taking the Black Cat wielder aside, he gave him a small remote-like item he’d packed that let him and anyone he wanted - other than Hawkmoth and Nathalie - come to the Koopa Kingdom if he wanted or needed to.

Bowser sometimes felt the repercussions of his past villainy too strongly. But whenever he remembered that day - especially punching Hawkmoth in the face - he felt a lot better about himself.


	2. The Father, The Children & The Unholy Terrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bowser was done with Hawkmoth. It was time to move on to new problems, fortunately.  
> Or is it unfortunately?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For AU inspirations, see Chapter 1's notes.  
> For my inspiration for this chapter, thank Mx. "justpassingthrudon’tmindme"

It had been about 3.5 years since Bowser took Hawkmoth down, and a lot of things had happened. For starters, Mario & Peach had divorced - on good terms, thankfully - because Peach could tell Mario wasn’t happy as King, and more recently, come out as bi (though there was no information on significant others). The more-than-accepting Mushroom World mostly theorized on Daisy & Rosalina being her potential lover for female partners, but Bowser knew that the two were practically her sisters, so he  _ pshaw’d  _ at the rumors and went about his business. Things were happy.

Well, they were, anyways.

If Bowser thought Hawkmoth was irritating the first time, he hadn’t seen anything yet; the Koopa King was utterly  _ livid _ in reaction to the attacks of the ex-fashion mogul. Somehow the villain had not only recovered the Moth Miraculous and found his way to the Mushroom World but had kidnapped all 8 of his children, turning them into his akumas and wreaking havoc upon not only the Koopa & Mushroom Kingdoms but other lands as well, all in a bid to raise an army, go to his home world & take the Miraculous.

The second he found out, Bowser sent for the Mario Brothers and any other hero he could find, even going to the Miraculous World (as Bowser had begun to call it) and getting the aid of Chat Noir & his Ladybug, who had not only learned each other’s identities and were thinking of retiring from the hero business but were willing to do one last job to stop the Black Cat’s father. 

Ultimately, however, even with the help he was getting Bowser wanted to save his kids. He went on his way to Hawkmoth’s first conquered domain, the Initial Steppes. With the help of Wario, Waluigi & King Monkey, Roy - or the magic-flinging Orby Son - was tracked down & while it wasn’t fun to fight him, Roy was eventually restored to his senses.

When his sunglasses were broken, however, no akuma slipped out. This was useful information that he should have checked with Chat; now knew this was not the Moth Miraculous’ doing, but someone else with similar magic. 

Bowser knew of nobody who had those powers others than Hawkmoth, though, so he didn’t have a certain place or person to search for. 

After getting Roy to the Mushroom Kingdom, where he entrusted the Koopa Kingdom-trained security force to ensure he wasn’t taken again, Bowser & another set of allies continued on their quest to save the Koopa King’s kids.

* * *

The rest of the Koopalings were saved more quickly than Bowser expected. He’d thought whoever was doing this would be stronger than Hawkmoth if they could essentially replicate a Miraculous’ powers.

In the Shifty Sand Desert, Pop Nova was reformed as Iggy with the help of Captain Toad, Toadette, & the help of two new heroes - Rongeuse & Doux Bœuf, a young couple with promise rings.

After adventuring through the Deeper Deeper Depths, the mystic Mullen O.P. was brought back to the form of Larry, Bowser being aided by the new heroes Tigresse Violette & Boaroness (an adorable opposites-attract couple) as well as - to his surprise & awe - Peach, Rosalina & Mayor Pauline. Not only did Bowser save another of his children, he figured out who Peach’s secret someone special was; he’d caught those lovesick stares between the leaders clad in pink and red.

With the help of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong & Cranky Kong, Bowser traversed through their home island, and soon Pegasus & Lapine (who apparently had been almost prophesied to become a Miraculous holder) joined him in his battle against Plasmatica, returning her to Wendy. 

Then, Bowser traveled through the ice monster-infested Freezyfreak Peak, battling Big Downey & Circus Freak while backed up by Queen Bee, Carapace, Rena Rouge and even the duo of Petey Piranha & King Boo, which was a bigger surprise than it should have been; Bowser had went to the good side, and it appeared the two now-ex-villains followed the Koopa King’s example. When Morton was saved, he and Bowser had a talk about changing Morton’s name, as the big-mouthed brute had been having some personal issues once the truth about Morton Koopa Senior’s crude behavior & manipulation of the current king, and Bowser had beat himself up for a bit for making things look like Morton couldn’t trust him with the truth.

The final Koopaling to be saved was Ludwig in the oddly-named Bright Land, who had been transformed into Decomposer. Bowser was not alone in restoring his eldest adopted child - Ryuuko, Viperion, Yoshi & Birdo showed up to give him a hand.

Bowser received a lead from Ludwig. It was a big, mostly-white figure who had taken Bowser’s kids, and also still had Bowser Junior. The Koopa Kingdom’s leader then knew who had done the dastardly deeds. Informing everyone, Bowser & his allies set off for the Dry Dry Desert.

* * *

“DRY ME, YOU SKELETAL SCOUNDREL, COME HERE AND FACE ME!” Bowser roared, punching open the dusty door where Bowser Junior & the perpetrator were reportedly held.

As predicted, Dry Bowser stood there, a dark-energy-covered Bowser Junior standing at his side.

“I’m here, my fleshy form. Whatever do you need? Perhaps… you want my new protégé back?”

“YOUR WHAT? NO! THAT AIN’T HAPPENING! RETURN HIM TO NORMAL, NOW!” 

“Well, I’d normally be more than fine with doing so, but forgive me if I’m not too excited - you stole my new generals!”

“WELL, YOU STOLE THEM FIRST, AND FROM ME! I MAY BE A GOOD GUY NOW-”

“And that’s my other problem with you. What happened? Just because your father expressed his superiority to the Mushroom Kingdom badly doesn’t mean you should give up on the legacy he created for you!”

“...so you knew my dad? I thought you were reborn from me, or related, or something like that.”  
Dry Bowser’s voice suddenly deepened and gained more rumble behind it. “We are indeed related, but Dry Bowser is not. He is merely my current vessel.”

The pieces clicked.

“...Father.”

From beyond the grave, the spirit of Morton gave a dark cackle. “Indeed, my son, it is I! I sensed you were disgracing the royal Koopa lineage, so I came at once! Your behavior is unforgivable, so the bloodline of the mistaken Koopas shall end with you!”

“The only disgraceful & unforgivable Koopa is you!”

Standing at the now purified Bowser Junior’s side were Mario, Luigi, Chat Noir & Ladybug. 

“WHAT? NO!” Morton roared. Seizing the opportunity, Bowser rushed the possessed Dry Bowser and with a resounding  _ POW _ , he knocked the skeletal vessel’s skull right off. From the area where his head was, the dark spirit of Morton rose, preparing to attack his son, alongside his friends.

Suddenly getting an idea, Ladybug chucked her yo-yo at the ghostly form, and as she predicted with a lucky guess, it sucked up the foul father’s foggy form, banishing him to the afterlife for good.

* * *

Bowser had thanked the Miraculous heroes profusely before they left for their world. 

“You helped save  _ mon chaton  _ and potentially the world,” Ladybug just shrugged it off, “this is the least we could do, right?” 

Bowser and Adrien would keep it contact, helping each other through the mental issues caused by their male creators. Both knew they had allies and families who would be with them the whole way, and it made them happy.

There wasn’t much else that could be used to describe their feelings - Bowser and Adrien had always had trouble expressing themselves until these times, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> The speech at the end is based off of my inspiration. I hope that's okay with the writer!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Koopa King, The Star Princess, & The Dark Butterfly](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20344450) by [Justpassingthruman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justpassingthruman/pseuds/Justpassingthruman)




End file.
